Benjamin Hart
Benjamin/Ben Hart is a main character of, The Treaty'.'' At 15yo, he is one of the three kids, along with Marco (19) and Elisa (15), who all experience a separate adventure of their own from the other adults and parents of the Treaty. Backstory '''2025-2033 Ben has always been a problematic child. Growing up in Melbourne, his father was often absent and he did not get along with other kids very well. At the age of 10 (2025), his dog, named Max, was hit by a truck driver. Although the driver was incredibly apologetic, Ben failed to get over Max's death. A few weeks later, the truck driver died as a result of a petrol explosion. His mother, Catherine, believed from very early on that Ben had supernatural gifts (psychic abilities) that appeared to be fueled by rage. He got into many school fights spontaneously, including with a boy twice his size who had been inappropriately touching his sister (this was not known until the injured boy confessed in the nurse's office). Catherine always attempted to talk to her husband, Gary Hart, but he dismissed it as coincidences. In 2033, Ben and his mum took a spontaneous trip to Antarctica via Captain Porter's ship, and landed in Commonwealth Bay with the intention of uprising him at Scott airfield the next day. Unfortunately, Commonwealth Bay fell under attack by the Alliance during their stay, and Catherine and Ben were forced to shelter in bunkers during the raid. Two days later, they emerged but found Porter's ship was gone. His mother managed to get McMurdo's co-ordinates from his dad over the radio, and he was forced to travel with a small group of survivors over a vast distance for several months. It was harsh and cold and tiring, and Ben hated it all. But luckily the group arrived at the underground caverns and the Hart family was reunited. Sadly, Catherine died from the flu the following year, and Ben was left with his estranged father. In the book (2035) Ben is 15, and mentally unstable. His behavior has gotten so far out of hand since his mother's death that his father often keeps him locked up in Nana's 'safe room', where he lives surrounded by padded walls. His friends are not allowed to see him when he is having his 'tantrums', but Elisa often slides a book under his door to keep him happy. Others often describe that they hear two voices talking to each other when they walk by the safe room door. Ben has made a reputation for himself as some sort of fortune-teller. Townsfolk have tales of him being able to predict when an injury is about to occur, or when helicopters will be in the sky. His father is not a fan of this attention around Ben and he doesn't believe in it, even though Catherine was adamant that his 'powers' were real. Hawk is also a stern disbeliever, and when Ben starts to cause wild mayhem in the town, shouting doomsday prophecies, he demands Hart control his son better. Ben witnesses the Treaty burning in a vision after a violent volcanic eruption consumes them all. His friends also struggle to believe his crazy rants. Ben witnesses Porter's suicide, which is a major trigger in his downwards spiral into mental instability. He often visits an old man in a rocking chair named Max, who makes hand-carved ice sculptures picturing something foreboding. Ben discusses with Max the final words he heard Porter whisper to him: 'The man from Alcatraz says hello.' It becomes his goal to understand what that means. When he finds old photographs of young, unburnt Hawk working at a facility called Arzamas-99, he realizes the drunk sailor mixed up the words: someone from Hawk's past is coming to get him. He confronts Hawk about this, who finally listens to the boy and agrees Porter's 'suicide' was a personal message. When Ben later warns Hawk that Anderson should not be trusted, Hawk is a little quicker to take his advice. Ben, Marco, and Elisa have interactions with other kids of the Treaty too, mainly Isabelle and Robbie, who discover the secret bunker where all the guns are stored. The kids get very sick after falling into the secret pit. Thinking they have been exposed to radiation, the kids get Nana's help before trying to rescue them. It's discovered that the two are suffering mercury poisoning, which leads Nana to find the massive supply of weapons hidden under the ice. Ben is amongst Nana's group, hiding under Fox's protective watch, while the final battle goes on. When his father dies (elsewhere), he feels a sting in his chest. The anger manifests into a fissure through the roof of the Treaty, which caves in and kills many soldiers, destroying most of the town in the process. After his father's burial, Ben sticks with his friends and is cared for by them dearly.